Wet wipes may be useful for cleaning hard and soft surfaces. Wet wipes may also be useful for delivering functional materials to a surface. For example, a wet wipe may provide skin benefits, such as conditioning and/or moisturizing the skin, or protection from or treatment of diaper rash. Wet wipes may comprise a substrate, generally a nonwoven material, and a cleansing composition. The cleansing composition may be aqueous, in which the components are freely soluble or stably dispersed within water. The cleansing composition may be suitable for use on a variety of surfaces, including, for example, skin, wood, or countertops. For wet wipes for use on skin, the cleansing composition may comprise surfactants, oil materials, skin care agents, pH buffers, solvents, preservatives, or other additives for cleaning and/or treating the skin.
Some wet wipes may include synthetic nonwoven materials. A wet wipe comprised partially or wholly of synthetic fibers, such as polypropylene, may have a higher surface area than a wet wipe comprised of a greater percent of natural fibers. In order to provide the same sensory or wetness perception as a wet wipe comprising natural fibers, a wet wipe comprising primarily synthetic fibers may have to be loaded with more cleansing composition. Without being bound by theory, it is believed that loading the wet wipe with more cleansing composition may reduce the adhesive interactions between the soil and the substrate. A relatively high cleansing composition load may cause a lubricating layer to form at the soil-substrate interface. Further, the presence of a relatively high cleansing composition load within the wipe may reduce the absorbent capacity of the wipe as more of the wipe structure is already filled with liquid. As a result, the soil may smear or spread over the surface rather than be removed from the surface by the wet wipe. As such, the cleaning performance of the wet wipe may be reduced at relatively high cleansing composition loads.
As a result, it would be beneficial to provide a synthetic wet wipe having a good sensory perception to consumers and a good cleaning performance.